MC3 Wheels

Ok so this is the situation, i have a 96 sc300 auto with 180k on it, The car has been pretty good over the last year but last weekend I was driving it home and it started cutting out, the dash lights were flickering, the a/c and radio were cutting in and out and the battery light came on. So I changed the alternator to a new rebuilt one and it seemed to be fine for a day or two but it was idling kinda low I talked to my mechanic and he told me to clean out the throttle body with brake cleaner while the battery is disconnected and then reconnect everything, tried that and it seemed fine but when it doesn't start with the same power almost like it was struggling to get going but once it was on it is fine, i change the ground terminal connector yesterday because everytime I'd step on the brake the lights would dim and the a/c and radio would cut for a sec. Everything seemed fine again until this morning when I was going to work, it seemed kinda week when first starting then i went to leave my neighborhood and it started cutting out, I went back home took off the positive off the battery, put it back on and it seemed fine. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY CAR... SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!

turbodremz

iTrader: (18)

By chance have you checked all the grounds and their contacts, not just the main one? Also, cut the insulation a bit to check the ground cable itself. I had an issue similar on my old DSM, and took the same steps, but in the end it was the cable itself and corrosion up the yahoo...

mr2tosc4

iTrader: (1)

Did you lower your car recently? Maybe tire is eating thru wiring in the fender?

turbodremz

iTrader: (18)

^^^Didnt even think about the fender harness...good catch

88supramki

check grounds, check wheel well. Mine was doing the same thing and I added a ground kit (it's a bandaid, not a final solution)

It sounds like your system can't handle the excess load being brought on by applying the brakes. Our cars are notorious for having really poor ground connections.

MC3 Wheels

The car is currently completely stock, i'm going to check my grounding points to see if that helps.

Bender25

iTrader: (10)

Go to the local Autozone and have them test the alternator and battery to be sure they're outputting the proper voltages.

MC3 Wheels

Ill try that too thanks

dreamsc300

my alternator caused all the problems you listed, and once i replaced it, all the problems dissolved.

MC3 Wheels

But i already replaced it and it still continues to happen. Maybe oil is still leaking onto it from the distributor or something, could that cause this?

TLDriver

iTrader: (4)

sounds more like the electrical system than anything... unless when you are breaking your RPM's are really really low and it's not spinning the alternator to what it should be to keep a good charge in the system. If that's happening check to see how your TB cable is configured. I took mine apart and put it back together and had changed the TB cable placement and had to adjust it.

Bender25

iTrader: (10)

Yes, I had to replace my alternator twice in a few month span due to something very similar. The first time the alt went out due to the leaky oring so I changed them both.

Everything went great, till a couple months later when the alternator died on me again and I learned that the distributor itself was leaking oil through its bearings and dumping oil on the alternator.

That's why I posted before to check the voltages of your battery and alternator, that way you can be sure they're working properly before you go start chasing gremlins.

chnk

iTrader: (12)

check the wires near from the o2 senser near/above the cats, three of mine melted together around there.

blacksc4

iTrader: (1)

had something similar,car would randomly die, everytime i reset the car (remove negative) it would be ok for a bit then want to die, it was my ecu

93SC300.

iTrader: (7)

happened to me on my tahoe and i was stumpd... it was a loose batterey connection. one of the terminals was stripped. could be something that simple but we tend to over look it.